Esther J. Cepeda complains about the difficulty of parenting her own children during the long, lazy months of summer. To Cepeda and others who are wondering why I am not agreeing to take on more students for more hours in my already-filled classroom: Where is your responsibility? Are you willing to raise, entertain, educate your own children for a small part of the year? Are you willing to pay an increase in property or sales taxes to pay for more trained teachers to work more hours? Are you willing to pay for and to accept caretakers in the schools without education degrees and experience to work the extra hours with your children?

I understand there is a summer brain drain. I see this every August. I understand that working parents suffer while finding ways to keep their children amused during the nine weeks of summer break. But educators cannot and should not replace the parent, and placing the onus on the already-burdened school system is not solving any problem.

Nina Barber, Denver

This letter was published in the Aug. 26 edition.

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